In June 2024, choral conductor Simon Fournier was awarded the Prix Jean-Pierre-Guindon by the Quebec Choral Alliance. This award, presented annually by an independent committee, recognizes a choral conductor’s exceptional dedication to the cause of choral singing for at least 25 years.
Simon Fournier, who has been involved in the world of choral singing since his days as a chorister with the Petits chanteurs du Mont-Royal, accepted the award with gratitude and humility. “The recognition of my peers, of several colleagues who took the time to congratulate me, touched me deeply and motivates me to continue to surpass myself. It’s given me a youthful energy,” says the conductor, who has been leading the Radio VM Choir since 1998 and is a self-taught choral conductor.
Initially trained in piano and classical guitar, Fournier entered the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal in classical singing and began his career as a singer. With a keen interest in sacred music and choral singing, he founded the Chœur Radio Ville-Marie (now Chœur Radio VM) in 1998, at which point he developed his conducting technique. “Choral conducting isn’t just about gestures,” he says. “It also involves a great deal of score analysis and, above all, human contact, to ensure that the musicians and choristers want to give their best.” For inspiration, he frequently visits the Maison symphonique and observes many of the conductors he admires, notably Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and learns the subtleties of choral conducting.
Simon Fournier has begun the 2024-25 choral season with renewed vigour, and there’s no shortage of projects. With the Opéra bouffe du Québec, which he has directed since 2001, he will present Jacques Offenbach’s La vie parisienne from Oct. 26. For the fourth time, actor and director Alain Zouvi will provide staging. Autumn is always a more intense time for this choir, when it calls on young professional opera singers for solo roles. “Our rehearsals are a whirlwind, it’s a bit crazy,” says Fournier. ”Staging, choreography, music—it’s all very hectic, with very precise and rigorous schedules, but always in good spirits and having fun. Alain and I work well together; we understand each other without having to talk.”
On Dec. 20, Chœur Radio VM will present Monsieur Händel écrit le Messie, an abridged version of Handel’s famous Messiah. Akin to musical theatre, the concert will feature professional soloists, and actor Sébastien Dhavernas in the role of Handel’s servant, Peter Leblond, and will put the creation of this famous work into context. “At the beginning of the session, I approach the work in such a way as to reassure the choristers, while taking a pedagogical approach to vocal technique. It’s important for the choir to develop a good group spirit: there’s no racing, no stress,” explains Fournier, a founding member of a-cappella vocal group La Bande Magnétik.
The Chœur Radio VM, in conjunction with the Tactus Chamber Choir, is also preparing for a tour of Italy in the summer of 2025, where it will present a series of concerts featuring repertoire exclusively from Quebec and Canada, and including works by Indigenous composers.
Always fascinated by the human voice, Fournier has discovered a passion for writing, and was delighted to launch Alter Ego last April, a mini album of his own pop-rock compositions, under the name Simon Pierre. “This project allows me to explore a new facet of my personality and gives me great freedom,” he says, hoping to be able to share his music live on stage soon. Above all, however, it’s the joy of conducting choirs that motivates him. “The choristers are so generous and passionate, it’s fantastic. There’s a lot of love in a choir,” says Fournier.
L’Opéra bouffe du Québec presents La vie parisienne from Oct, 26 to Nov. 3 at Théâtre des Muses, Maison des arts de Laval. www.operabouffe.org
Chœur Radio VM presents Monsieur Händel écrit le Messie, Dec. 20 at 7:30 p.m. at Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours. www.crvm.org
Translation by L. I. Liganor
